Chapter 77: The Pink Letter
“Ah~ so sleepy.”
In the afternoon, Lin Muqing got up from bed, stretched, yawned, and then casually picked up her jade pendant and put it on.
Before her nap, she had been rolling around in bed for quite a while, thinking non-stop about the school beauty ranking.
In the end, Lin Muqing came up with the perfect solution, just be a salted fish.
As long as she stayed lazy enough and pretended to know nothing, trouble wouldn’t find her, and the whole thing wouldn’t have anything to do with her.
That so-called school beauty? Just a pretty girl who happened to look a little like her. It had nothing to do with a “tough guy” like her.
Thinking this way, Lin Muqing got herself ready and opened the door to leave the living room.
“Good afternoon, Boss.”
She casually greeted her best buddy and then followed him to put on her shoes, getting ready to go out.
“Mm.”
After his nap, Ye Ziming didn’t bring up the school beauty ranking again. He simply gave a short reply, acting like nothing had happened.
After being on that list for a whole year, he was already used to it. He didn’t think it was a big deal or worth talking about.
Just like Lin Muqing, he also felt that the ranking was pretty pointless. Only people with nothing better to do would waste time on that stuff.
“Boss, I want to talk to you about something.”
On the way to school, Lin Muqing nudged her best buddy and, after hesitating a little inside, looked up at him.
“What is it?”
Because he knew her so well, Ye Ziming could immediately tell that when she looked at him like that, she probably wanted something from him.
But he didn’t mind. He followed up with a question, willing to help this cute girl who called him “Boss” all the time.
“So… when I’m working, can I not wear that uniform?”
“Nope.”
He answered right away, so fast that Lin Muqing was caught off guard and didn’t even have time to react.
“Uh… you see, I’m your secretary. Whether I wear it or not doesn’t really matter, right? It doesn’t affect my work…”
“I don’t agree.”
No matter how much Lin Muqing explained, from how it didn’t matter, or how it wouldn’t affect anything, Ye Ziming didn’t change his mind.
He made it clear, if she didn’t wear the uniform, it would count as skipping work, and she wouldn’t get her perfect attendance bonus anymore.
“Sigh~”
Lin Muqing let out a helpless sigh. She had hoped to use this chance to break away completely from the image of the cat-eared maid.
But she didn’t expect her best buddy to be so firm. No matter how much she talked, he didn’t back down even a little.
So, after all that, in order to keep her high-paying job, she still had to wear that super embarrassing outfit.
Even though she had gotten used to it by now, she still felt a bit awkward about it.
“Don’t worry. No one would ever guess it’s you.”
Looking at Lin Muqing next to him and remembering their conversation before the nap, Ye Ziming could roughly guess what she was worrying about.
So he patted her on the shoulder, gave her a reassuring look, and smiled as he said that.
He admitted that Lin Muqing made a good point, but just because something made sense didn’t mean it was useful. There was no way he’d give up such a great benefit.
Lin Muqing in a cat-ear maid outfit? That wasn’t just cute, it was dangerously cute.
“Hmm~ fine then.”
By this point in their conversation, the two of them were already approaching the entrance of their classroom, where about half of the students had arrived.
Reaching the classroom pretty much meant the end of their conversation.
After all, the things they talked about couldn’t be overheard by anyone else. If even a bit leaked out, their identities might be exposed.
When it came down to it, the real reason Lin Muqing couldn't walk away from this job was simple, it was just too good.
Even if there was a risk of her secret being found out, she would still show up to work (and collect her paycheck)!
Since Lin Muqing had already given in, Ye Ziming didn’t say anything more and simply walked toward the classroom door.
In no time, the two of them had entered the room and headed for their own seats.
But when Lin Muqing reached her desk, she suddenly saw a pink envelope lying right on top of it.
Even more coincidentally, the envelope was slowly sliding toward the edge of the desk because of the fan, just about to fall off.
“Wow~ it’s pink!”
Right before it hit the floor, Lin Muqing quickly reached out and held it down, letting out a dramatic gasp like she’d just discovered something surprising.
Judging by how it moved, she figured the letter wasn’t actually for her. It had probably been blown over from her best buddy’s desk.
Thinking back to similar things that had happened during their first year, she was even more sure about her guess.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you already have a girlfriend, and someone’s still giving you this? Not bad, not bad.”
She wasn’t about to let a chance to tease her best buddy slip by, so she immediately started poking fun at him.
As she spoke, Lin Muqing sat down and casually handed the letter to Ye Ziming, giving him a very meaningful smile.
(*￣︶￣)
“Maybe it’s for you.”
Hearing her teasing, Ye Ziming frowned a bit, clearly a little upset. He didn’t take the letter right away.
Normally, he would’ve accepted it with a blank face, then either tossed it back or handed it over to the homeroom teacher.
But right now, the situation was more complicated. He couldn’t quite explain why, but he just felt kind of annoyed. Especially by how Lin Muqing was acting.
Still, he couldn’t say anything. After all, they were only pretending to be a couple.
“For real? Someone would actually give me something like this?”
Seeing that her buddy didn’t take the letter, Lin Muqing pulled her hand back and looked surprised.
Then she glanced at the big heart drawn on the envelope and thought, why not just open it and see? That way, they’d know who it was really for.
Once the idea popped into her head, she looked around to make sure no one was watching and then quietly slipped the envelope under her desk.
But just as she started to tear it open, before she could even pull out the letter inside, a big hand suddenly reached over and snatched it away.
“Hey~ I thought you didn’t want it?”
Even though the letter got taken away, Lin Muqing wasn’t mad. Honestly, she’d opened it mostly just to mess with her buddy.
Now that Ye Ziming had reached out to grab it, he’d fallen right into her trap, giving her another chance to tease him.
She’d finally won one round. Lin Muqing felt amazing, sweet victory at last!
“Tearing open someone else’s letter without permission is really rude.”
Ye Ziming turned his head away and stuffed the envelope deep into his backpack. A spot Lin Muqing couldn’t reach.
In that moment, he suddenly realized something, if the letter really was for Lin Muqing, then he absolutely couldn’t let her read what was inside.
Besides, now that everyone knew he had a girlfriend, something like this letter shouldn’t even exist.
And even if it did, it shouldn’t be this simple. Just a pink envelope? No name, no decorations? Totally amateur.
Which made him even more sure of one thing.
This letter was probably meant for Lin Muqing.